Leaf’s hand snapped forward at the Troll’s roar. He reached out to the bow in his mind, and one of the glyphs on his glove flashed with purple Aether before materializing the weapon in his hand in a sheath of violet light. His quiver was still strapped to the back of his waist, and he pulled an arrow from it as the bow fully manifested. An arrow was notched by the time that the Troll began its charge.
Helbram stood in its path, and due to the Troll’s surprising agility he barely managed to roll out of the way of its blind charge. As he got out of the way a glyph on his gauntlet glowed before manifesting the spear in his hands. He held the weapon out defensively towards the troll, but Leaf could see his head turning to keep an eye out for the Scalehound that had disappeared during the charge.
“We are to restrain him! Not kill!” Helbram yelled to them. He did not look back for the affirmation, but they all nodded just the same.
Elly had already arranged her robes to allow her to move freely, and as she started to slide her feet across the ground yellow Aether bled into her legs and suffused through her body to her arms. Jahora’s own robes billowed as she gathered green Aether around her, focusing at the palms of her hands in the shape of glyphs.
“You have to get the daggers in him!” she said, her eyes also darting around to the trees around them.
As she yelled the Troll recovered, catching its momentum around a broken tree and redirecting it back to them. Helbram ran towards it, spear readied, but rather than strike at it he jumped right in front of the Troll. It swung at him with the back of one of its large hands while still continuing to move forward, but Helbram hopped back, barely avoiding the swing as it passed by his face. The swing was wild and went wide, allowing Helbram to slip under its arm. He reached for his dagger as he closed in on the Troll’s torso, but as he did so the Scalehound emerged from the trees, its jaws already open and ready to clamp down on Helbram.
Leaf loosed his arrow the moment he saw it emerge, channeling a small amount of Ether into his arrow as he released it. The arrow was enveloped by a sheen of red light, its trail stark in the darkened forest. It struck the Scalehound at its side, the projectile still unable to pierce through its armored hide, but striking with enough force to knock it off course. Helbram ducked back to avoid the beast entirely, but by that time the Troll had recovered. It struck the ground with a thunderous force, yellow Aether pulsing through its fists. The ground erupted around it, blasting dirt and debris through the air. Helbram was lost in the cloud of dust that followed.
He emerged from it soon after, blasted back from the force of the explosion and onto the ground in front of Leaf. His spear was gone, replaced by the wooden shield that he held in front of him. With a groan he scrambled to his feet and flicked out his arm, producing his sword as he slipped into a stance.
“We are not going to get anywhere if we do not take care of the Scalehounds,” Helbram said.
As if on cue, another of the beasts emerged from the trees behind them, its fangs bared at it now charged at Jahora. Before it could meet the Mage, Elly slammed her foot into the ground, triggering a pulse of yellow Aether that caused a pillar of earth to jut from the ground right in front of the Scalehound. It turned right before impact, slamming its scale covered back into the stone rather than its teeth. Helbram moved to strike the beast as it was down, but it recovered quickly and skirted back to the woods.
Jahora’s eyes flared with anger and she raised her hand to the sky, an orb of white light forming in her hand.
“You shall hide no longer!” she yelled as she released the spell into the air.
The orb flared as it reached the canopy above, showering them in a pale light that chased away the shadows around them. Within the trees, Leaf caught shimmers slipping through the trees, the result of light bouncing off of the beasts’ scales as they dashed through the forest. One slipped into the clearing, directly at Leaf.
Elly dashed in front of him, arms wrapped in Aether as they caught the beast’s jaws. He stepped to the side as Elly slid back, taking in a breath and channeling Ether into his leg. Red light pulsed down to his foot as he brought it up and into the side of the Scalehound. A burst of red followed as his kick sunk in, knocking the beast away and into a tree. Like before, however, it recovered too quickly to strike further and slipped back into the woods.
The ground started to shake soon after, and as Leaf’s eyes cut back to where the Troll last was, he saw a wave of dirt and rock charging towards them. Helbram grabbed Jahora and slipped behind the stump of a broken tree. Elly spun, gathering green Aether at her feet before she kicked the ground, propelling herself with a burst of wind over the wave. Leaf followed suit, infusing his Ether into his legs and using his enhanced strength to leap over the wave. As they landed, the Scalehounds were already on them, leaping from the trees once again to catch them off guard while the Troll rushed towards Helbram and Jahora.
Leaf cursed and rolled, avoiding the scale covered beast’s snapping jaws. As he recovered to his feet, he pulled another arrow from his quiver and started to infuse it with Ether. He forced more of the energy into the arrow this time and also channeled it into his arms, strengthening him enough to pull the bowstring past his chest with ease. The Scalehound had already leapt at him to follow up its previous strike, but Leaf loosed the arrow before it could make contact. The shot, made in haste, glanced past the beast’s head but pierced through a scale at its side. The force behind the shot knocked the Scalehound off course, allowing him to side step it with ease.
The one that had charged at Elly met a similar fate, knocked to the side by a burst of wind as the Weaver struck it on the jaw with a kick infused with green Aether. She winced and favored her leg for a moment before she and Leaf retreated.
His eyes cut back to the Troll, seeing it bearing down on Helbram, who stood in front of Jahora with his shield raised. Given the size of his opponent, it would have been a worthless move were it not for Jahora placing her hands on Helbram’s back, the two rings around her head clear even with the light of the orb shining over her. The Aether that she channeled flowed through Helbram’s brigandine, up his arms and into his shield before projecting outwards into a barrier marked by a glyph that glowed with a pale blue. The Troll brought its fist down on the barrier, producing a flash of light as it impacted against the magic. The barrier shattered against the force of the blow, and the pair slid back, but remained on their feet. Rage permeated the air as the Troll let out another deafening roar.
“We will keep him occupied!” Helbram yelled, “You two focus on the Scalehounds!”
He and Jahora dashed away from Elly and Leaf, the Thaumaturge unleashing a bolt of Aether into the Troll’s face as they did so. It glanced harmlessly off of his cheek, but still drew his attention as it continued to charge after them.
Leaf and Elly, following Helbram’s command, moved towards the center of the broken trees. Leaf took in a breath and focused more Ether into his eyes as he did so, giving his Irises a red glow as his vision focused further, letting him discern the glinting of the Scalehounds’ hides amidst the illuminated foliage. He made out four distinct shimmers before the strain on his eyes became too great and he released the Ether.
“There are four!” He yelled before blinking his eyes. When his vision recovered one of them broke out of the woods and rushed towards them, keeping its head down and leaving only its scales visible.
He knocked another arrow and only fed a small bit of Ether at its tip, “We need to expose their bellies if we’re to dispatch them!”
Elly nodded and moved her hands, weaving a small ball of green Aether in between them. She released the ball towards the ground right in front of the Scalehound, as as the beast continued its charge the orb burst right underneath it, releasing a blast of wind that knocked its jaw upwards. Leaf loosed his arrow as its soft underbelly was exposed, hitting the beast at its throat. The force behind the shot stopped the beast’s charge and sent it crashing to the ground. It rolled as its momentum carried it, but it remained still as it slid in front of them. Lifeless, pale white eyes started up at him for a moment, only for the ghostly color to fade and leave behind hazel colored irises with pupils dilated in shock.
Tightness clutched at his chest. Whatever was driving the beast, it was not instinct.
He did not have time to think on this further, for two other Scalehounds emerged from the brush and began to run towards them. Their white eyes were all the more stark now that he’d seen them up close, but the archer shook his head and knocked another arrow.
Elly attempted to fire another orb of wind at the pair, but they skipped to the side rather than charging ahead, avoiding the blast of wind that followed. Leaf forced more Ether into his arrow and released it at the one that broke towards him. It struck the Scalehound in the side, but hit it with enough force to knock it away. He ignored the growing hollowness in his chest and turned to Elly, feeling a rush of heat from the Weaver’s position.
Red Aether rushed through her hand as she pulled heat from the air in front of her, and she raised her opposite hand, erecting a thin wall of ice between her and the Scalehound that lunged at her. It broke through the frozen barrier, but its advance was blind, allowing Elly to skip to the skip to avoid the beast entirely. She brought up the hand glowing in red Aether, focusing the energy into her fingertips before releasing a focused burst of flame into the beast’s flank. It struck its scales with enough force to knock it to the side, sending it tumbling towards Leaf.
He raised his hand and let his thoughts reach towards the shortsword at the back of his mind. As the beast rolled, its stomach was exposed, and the shortsword materialized in his hand right before he drove it into the Scalehound’s unscaled underside. He did not look at the beast’s eyes as it stopped moving.
Leaf pulled the blade from the beast and immediately turned towards the one that had charged at him previously. The beast had changed its target, breaking away from them and charging towards Helbram and Jahora, who were currently dodging the wild swings of the Troll in the distance.
“You have one breaking towards you!” Elly shouted. As she did she clasped her hands together, a pale white Aether gathered at her fingers. She twisted them and brought them apart, and as she did so she was joined by two exact copies of her at her side. Were it not for the fact that he saw the illusions split off from her, he would not have been able to tell the difference between the three. Regardless, he still shook his head to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things.
“I’ll draw the Troll’s attention, you focus on the Scalehounds,” she said before rushing towards the pair.
She rushed towards the Troll, her images running at her sides as they all gathered yellow Aether in their hands. All scooped their hands up, ripping a large stone from the ground and flinging it at the Troll. Helbram and Jahora had just blocked another blow from the Troll, its Aether infused fist shattering another barrier as the pair slid back towards the Scalehound that closed in on them. The rock struck the Troll at the side of its head, delivering a blow that caused it to stumble back. Jahora looked back at the Scalehound that was charging at them and readied a spell, but Leaf could tell that she would not be able to finish the spell before the beast reached them.
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Helbram stepped between Jahora and the hound, catching its charge at a low angle with his shield. The warrior brought the shield up, throwing the beast’s jaw upwards. He followed the bash with his sword, driving the blade into its chest. It went still on his blade, but before Helbram could pull his weapon free another Scalehound emerged from the trees, right at the warrior.
Leaf loosed an arrow at the emerging beast, but did not have enough time to infuse his arrow with Ether, causing the projectile to glance off the hound’s scaled hide. A bolt of Aether flew from Jahora’s hands, but this too only brushed off of the beast’s shimmering scales.
The Scalehound’s jaw wrapped around Helbram’s shoulderguard, but its maw was large enough to wrap around his armored shoulder, giving it a grip as clamped down. Its momentum did not slow, ripping Helbram from his feet as it continued forward. He lost grip of his sword as he was carried away, and the beast planted its feet before driving its head to the side, tossing Helbram away from it. The warrior struck the ground and rolled, but was unable to get to his feet before the beast started to charge at him again.
Leaf had an arrow prepared this time, and released the Ether infused projectile into the hound’s side. It pierced a scale and pushed it off course, allowing Helbram time to recover to his feet. The Scalehound landed on its feet and circled around the warrior, who had his shield between him and the beast.
Leaf spared a glance to Elly, who had drawn the Troll’s attention with the stone that she threw earlier. The Weaver danced between the Troll’s fist as it struck at her and at the illusions that were at her sides. In her movements she would swap positions with her illusions, sometimes being at the center of them, other times at the sides. While her movements allowed her to avoid the Troll’s attacks, she was unable to land a blow of her own. The Troll, growing increasingly enraged, brought one of its hand’s back and wrapped it around the thickest branch of the tree behind it. With the barest of effort, he tore the branch from the tree and infused it with the Yellow Aether that flowed through his fist. It’s slack limbs went rigid as the energy bled into the branch, and the Troll swept the improvised weapon in front of it.
Elly leapt over the blow by releasing a burst of wind from her feet, but the Troll had read this evasion and was already following his attack with another swing of his fist. The Weaver’s illusions faded as she brought her hands in front of her to project a barrier, which shattered as it soaked most of the force behind the blow. However, she was still unable to avoid the Troll’s fist entirely. She curled as the Troll’s massive hand struck, her drawing in green Aether to her body as the blow landed. She was thrown back from the attack, but released a burst of wind from her body before she landed, softening her impact before she hit the ground. She struggled to get up following her landing and the Troll started to run after her.
“Get to Elly!” Leaf yelled to Jahora, “I’ll take care of Helbram!”
Jahora nodded and formed another spell in her hands, funneling Green Aether into them as she ran towards the Weaver. Leaf spotted Helbram’s spear as he made his way to the warrior, who just dodged another strike from the Scalehound that circled him. Leaf kicked the spear from the ground and into his hand.
“Helbram!” he called out as he tossed the spear at him.
The warrior turned and caught the spear out of reflex, but in the small opening that he reached out to do so the Scalehound lunged at him again. Before the beast struck, Helbram threw his shield in front of him and planted the base of the spear into the ground. He managed to get the point in front of him as the hound collided with him, resulting in the spear piercing through its back as the beast’s momentum threw both of them to the ground. The beast was still as it lay on top of Helbram, who pushed it off of him, grunting against its weight.
Both Leaf and Helbram only met eyes for a moment, but nodded to each other as the warrior recovered to his feet. He left his spear in the Scalehound and drew the dagger at his waist. Leaf did the same, and both of them rushed at the Troll in the distance, who had been knocked back by a large shockwave unleashed from Jahora, who stood between the Troll and Elly.
Both men passed by the spellcasters as Elly managed to recover, and when Jahora’s eyes fell on the dagger she followed after them, gathering more green Aether in her hands. Leaf and Helbram rushed towards the Troll’s sides, but he swung his branch in a sweep again, aiming to catch all three of them in its strike. From behind them, Elly stomped on the ground, producing a pillar of earth from the ground, intercepting the attack. Both it and the branch shattered as the strike landed, and Helbram held his shield up to block the splinters that scattered towards him.
Leaf and Helbram closed in on the Troll’s hands, and as they closed in he swung the remainder of his branch at Helbram. Helbram ducked under the blow and followed the hand, driving the dagger into its wrist before twisting it. The Troll roared, and in its blind pain Leaf grit his teeth and did the same to its other wrist. Jahora released her spell as the dagger was embedded into the Troll’s skin, producing two green glyphs on the tree behind it.
A line of green Aether formed between the daggers and the glyphs, pulling at the weapons with enough force to drag the Troll’s arms back. He fought against the magical restraints, pulling away from the glyph as the Thaumaturge fed more Aether into her spell, the Circles around her head flaring and sweat forming on her brow as she did so. Helbram undid the rope from his belt and tossed one end at Leaf. The two men pulled at it tight and ran at the Troll. Jahora’s spell managed to keep the Troll’s arms low, allowing Helbram and Leaf to pin them at his sides as the roped caught it at the center of its torso. The ran past the Troll, pulling against the rope with all of their might. Leaf forced Ether into his arms and legs, ignoring the growing hollowness in his chest as energy within his Core started to empty. He could feel Helbram pulling against the rope with all his might as well, but Leaf had managed to find more purchase with his enhanced strength and forced the Troll to take a step back.
Still, their efforts could not force the Troll onto the tree behind it, and the large creature resisted them, anger screaming into Leaf’s mind as it continued to roar. Elly ran up and channeled yellow Aether into her hands before slamming them into the ground. Vibrations rocked the forest floor around them before Leaf noticed the energy bleeding into the ground around the Troll’s feet. The dirt under his feet became loose and its footing unstable, causing the Troll to fall back under the combined might of Leaf, Helbram, and Jahora’s spell. It crashed against the tree, sending a shower of loose leaves and acorns battering against the ground, but all retained focus as Helbam and Leaf started to loop the rope around the tree multiple times. Elly raised her hands from the earth, summoning earth around the Troll’s feet that started to harden, keeping them in place. Even with all of this, however, he still pulled against his restraints, now allowing Helbram nor Leaf to tie a knot around the tree to fully restrain him.
“We are not here to kill you,” Helbram said through grit teeth as he continued to pull against the rope, “please… return to your senses!”
The Troll only continued to roar in response.
“The Aether around him is distorted!” Jahora said as her breaths grew gradually more labored, “such… rage cannot be natural!”
“A spell then! Can any of you break it?!” Leaf said as he shifted position, feeling all of his body strain as he pulled against the rope.
Both spellcasters shook their heads, “Not before he breaks the restraints!” Elly said, her arms trembling as she continued to feed Aether into the ground.
The group was silent as they continued to try and force the Troll back into the tree, drawing as much strength as they could to force the Troll back, but still it resisted.
As Leaf looked back towards Elly, he noticed a figure approaching them from behind. It was Marcus, who had Helbram’s spear in his hands. He looked at the group in confusion, but there was a clear tremble in his legs as he started to walk forward trepidatiously.
“Marcus! Help us!” Helbram yelled.
The young man continued forward, Helbram’s words drawing none of his attention as his hands started to move the spear in front of him. He trembled more as he marched towards the Troll, hunger clear in his eyes. If he were to make a move, none were in a position to stop him.
“MARCUS!” Helbram yelled, his voice booming with both anger and desperation.
It was enough to break the trembling man from his trance, and he looked towards Helbram for a brief moment.
“Tell me,” Helbram grunted, “Do you think his rage is natural? Do you believe that if you slew him that this would bring a smile to your sister’s face?”
Marcus paused, and after a moment, he lowered the spear and ran towards Helbram. He dropped the spear to the side and helped Helbram pull against the rope.
“Good man,” Helbram grunted, and the two of them pulled together.
The restraints against the Troll tightened, but still they did not have enough of a hold on it to tie it fully against the tree. All groaned in their efforts to hold the Troll still, but in addition to its natural monstrous strength the rage behind it made it all the more uncontainable. Leaf could see the Troll’s eyes glaze over in rage, but also the tears that now streamed down his face.
Movement caught his eye again, and this time three people approached from the clearing. It was Majorie, with Geren and Holden at her side.
“Please,” Helbram pleaded in a gradually weakening tone., “we need your help…”
Marjorie started at Helbram, expression impassive, but she nodded.
Relief rushed over Leaf, only to be replaced by panic as he realized that the Hawk of Dunwich was not nodding at Helbram, but at Geren.
The robed man raised his hands, rings of Aether forming around his wrists and his head, totalling three in number. A glyph he did not recognize formed between the caster’s hands, composed of a pale purple Aether.
“NO!” Helbram screamed, but it was too late.
Geren released his spell, sending a pulse of Aether that washed over the group. As it struck Elly, the Aether in her hands vanished, and when it hit the glyphs formed on the tree, they shattered.
The Troll lurched forward, the strength of the three men holding it not enough to keep him contained. All lost grip on the rope as the Troll tore off its restraints, roaring as its rage intensified. In his stupor, the Troll swung his fists wildly around, shattering part of the tree he was almost restrained against. In its rage it faced both Helbram and Marcus, and with another roar it rushed towards the two men.
Marcus scrambled and snatched the spear from the ground before Helbram pulled him back, putting himself between the Troll and the younger man. He did not have enough time to step out of the way of the Troll, who swung the back of his fist at the warrior. Helbram’s shield splintered as it caught the blow, and the strike followed through, knocking him off of his feet and flying into the forest beyond.
The Troll continued his blind charge, barreling forward to Marcus, who leaned against another tree, cowed in fear.
Marjorie did nothing.
Marcus was silent in his panic, summoning only the smallest amount of movement to heft the spear up as the Troll fell upon him.
The moment they collided, the forest went still.
The storm of rage around them vanished as the Troll slumped over, its head resting against the tree. Marcus slid from under him and skittered back, still too panicked to get to his feet. The Troll pushed itself from the tree, turning to them all and revealing the spear that protruded from his chest.
He fell to his knees as anger no longer glazed over his eyes. Slowly, he looked at them all, and Leaf felt something brush against him. It was slight, almost a whisper, but it dug deeper into his soul than the Troll’s rage ever had.
Confusion, pain, fear… then nothing.
The Troll fell to the ground, staring up at the sliver of moons that shone down upon him. Tears fell from his eyes, stopping only as the light faded from them.
The Troll was dead.